Desnoes & Geddes Limited, which trades as Red Stripe Jamaica, was among a slate of facilities worldwide being reshaped by its Dutch parent, Heineken NV, to cut costs through digitalisation.
“We accelerated our digital transformation, expanding the scale and impact of our platforms with over €130 million (US$140 million) in cost savings and the launch of Digital Backbone in Jamaica and Panama,” according to Heineken’s annual report released this week.
The system now processes transactions for more than 600,000 active business-to-business customers, which generated more than €5 billion (US$5.4 billion) in gross merchandise value, the financials stated.
Red Stripe, when contacted, declined to disaggregate the figures for the local operations. “The data referenced sits within Heineken’s global reporting framework,” said Dianne Ashton Smith, head of corporate affairs at Red Stripe, in response to queries. “We do not break out market-level numbers from those aggregated disclosures.”
The company also upgraded a water treatment facility in Jamaica as part of broader sustainability and operational efficiency improvements across its Americas division.
Heineken’s global revenue of €34.3 billion (US$37 billion) in 2025 was 4.5 per cent lower than a year earlier. Trade uncertainties stemming from proposed US import tariffs, persistent global inflation, and shifting consumer preferences toward lower-alcohol and non-alcoholic options have compressed revenue across the brewing industry.
Efficiency measures, however, resulted in a higher profit of €2.1 billion (US$2.3 billion), up from €1.2 billion (US$1.3 billion) a year earlier. Local financial details were not disaggregated.
Red Stripe, Jamaica’s leading beer brand, was acquired by Heineken in 2015 through its takeover of the Desnoes & Geddes brewery from spirits brand Diageo.
The digital transformation involves replacing fragmented technologies with a “modern, modular architecture and standardised cloud-based platforms”, the annual report indicated. It aims to improve forecasting, inventory optimisation, and automation to reduce labour costs. It will also connect breweries directly with retailers and distributors, the financials stated.
“Scaling these capabilities across our operations helps us improve customer experience, drive end-to-end efficiencies, reduce emissions, and save costs,” stated the company.
The digital push comes as Heineken navigates what executives described as a “challenging environment”. The Caribbean operations, while smaller than Heineken’s European or Asian markets, offer particular advantages for digital experimentation due to its market-leading presence.
In Singapore, it launched a joint-venture project, Global GenAI Lab, to develop AI solutions in financial reporting, customer support, and marketing, seen as “the first of its kind for the company”, the financials noted. In Vietnam, it set up the APAC Data and Analytics Hub, centralising critical capabilities to drive business impact across the region.
business@gleanerjm.com
